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Wesir-Hapi

(GR Apis, Serapis) "Wesir the Runner" Not truly a Name but a theophany, a symbol through which the essence of Netjer can be known, Wesir-hap started out as simply "Hap," the bull of Ptah kept at Het-ka-Ptah (GR Memphis) as an oracle of the Netjer. Hap-bulls were specifically marked: black except for a white triangle on the forehead, a scarab-shaped spot under the tongue, stripes resembling vultures' wings on their backs, and double-stranded tail hairs. When a Hap-bull calf was found, the bull and his mother (the cow being considered a theophany of Aset) were taken to Ptah's temple, brought out for festivals and then, at the end of the bull's (or cow's) life, possibly ritually sacrificed and shared in a communal meal. Early Egyptologists believed that the bull died of natural causes, was embalmed and laid to rest in a vault known today as the Serapeum, but recent studies (see KMT magazine archives at www.egyptology.com) suggest the ritual meal theory, noting some "Apis mummies" consist of bare bones shaped in the form of bulls by bandages. Upon the death of a bull mourning rituals were held along with a full funeral, and a search was made for another bull-calf, to replace the deceased. The Ptolmaic rulers of Greco-Roman Egypt took the Hap bull-cult one step further, syncretising Hap with Wesir to create Serapis, a god whom they believed both Greeks and native Egyptians could comprehend.